Pneumatic door check and closer.



No. 731,361. f -PATENTED JAN. 31, 1905.l Y 0. 11.10B. PNEUMATLG DOOR CHECK ANDGLOSER APPLIOATION FILED APR. 5, 1904.

asuma- SHEET 2.

l UNITED VSTATES Patented January 31, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER RICE, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, `ASSICrNOR TO IDEAL DOOR CHECK SPRING COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A COR- PORATION CALIFORNIA.

PNEUMATIC DOOR CHECK AND CLOSER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters :Patent No. 781,361, dated January 31, 1905.

' Application inea April 5, 1904. serial No. 201,669.

T all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER RICE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, county of Alameda, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Door Checks and Closers; and'I do hereby declare the following to `be la full, clear, and eXact description of the same.

My invention relates to that class of door IO checks and closers in which a casing secured to the door contains a closing-spring and cooperating air-cushion cylinder, said spring being actuated by power-levers connecting it with a Xed bracket onfthe door frame or easement. l

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective device of this class capa-l ble of adaptation by reason of its construe: tion and the adjustability and reversibility of 2O its'parts to all possible situations and to meet all the requirements of speed and gentleness of operation. j u

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combiv nation of parts, which I shall now fully describe by reference to the accompanying d rawings, in whichj l Figure 1 is a topplan showing the application of my device to a door, the dotted .lines showing the position when the door is partly open. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the main casing, the cover-plate being removed to show the position of the interior parts when at rest. Fig. 3 4is an elevation of the spring-housing. Fig. 4 is a top View of the spring-housing. Fig. 5 is an end view of the pawl-and-ratchet spring-tensioning device. Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the adjustably-connectedhead of one is an enlarged;`

of the power-levers. Fig. 7 top view of the fixed bracket. Fig. 8 is atop view of the main casing, the cover-plate being removed to show the position of the interior parts when operated by the opened door. Fig. 9 is a detail top view to show the seating of the spring in the housing.' Fig. lO is a side view of the same. Fig. 1l is a top'view of the main casing, the cover-plate being removed and showing the reversed position of a, by which it is secured to the part to which A it is to be attached. Mounted inthe forward part of the casing is the rotary housing B, which carries the coil-spring C. The housing or carrier is pivotally mounted by means of a journal Figs. 3 and 10, rigidly secured to or formed with one side of it, which said journal projects through the cover-plate a of the casing and is formed on its ends with lugs Figs. 3 and 4, to receive the power-lever.

connections presently to be described. The other side of thev housing B is pivoted and rotates upon an independent journal D, which serves the further function of a spring-tensioner. This journal passes through the casing into the housing and into the spring center, the inner extremity c of said spring, Fig. 9, being engaged by a groove d, Fig. 3, in the journal. Upon the outeror lower end of the journal D is formed or secured a ratchet d', which is engaged by a pawl a2, pivoted to the casing, Figs. 3, 5, and 10, and'said lower end is formed with a wrench-hold cl2 to enable the journal to be turned in order to tension the spring. The outer end of the spring has hooks c', Figs. 9 and 10, which detachably engage a cross-bar b2 of the housing B. The

housing B is formed or provided with a crank 63, having a stub b4.

Seated in the inner portion of the casing and horizontally disposed lengthwise thereof is the cylinder E, Figs. 2 and 8, in which is a Vplunger e, the rod c" of which projects and plays through the end of the casing in a bearing-groove a3 ln-said casing.

The other end of the cylinder hasa lug e2, which rests in a corresponding groove t4 in the other. end of the casing. By the rod eand the luge2 the cylinder is carried in the bearing-grooves t3 and a* of the casing A, being set freely therein in such manner that when the cover-plate a. of the casing is unscrewed and removed the cylinder may be easily lifted out and reversed end for end, as shown in Fig. 11, for

a purpose I shall presently explain. The plunger-rod e' is connected with the crank b3 of the spring-housing by a link F, which fits over the stud In* of the crank and can readily be removed therefrom when necessary. The link F plays through a groove a", Fig. 8, in either end of the casing, according to the position of the cylinder. In the closed casennen t.

end of the cylinder is an air-vent controlled by a valve e3 of suitable character, said valve being exposed to and accessible from the outside ofthe casing.

Gr is one of the levers of the power connections, the head of which is formed with a number of radial grooves g, Fig. 6, adapting it to engage at various angles, according to the adjustment desired, the lugs of the journal I) of the spring-housing. A screw g secures the lever to the journal. To the outer end of the lever Gris pivoted the second lever H, Figs. 1 and 2, the outer end of which has a socket adapting it to be secured by a removable pin 7L to the fixed bracket I, Fig. l. This bracket has a flange c', by which it is secured to the part to which it is to be attached, and said bracket is provided with a plurality of variously-disposed holes f', as shown in Figs. l and 7, to receive the connecting-pin 71, of lever H and to regulate the point of attachment as desired.

In Fig. l I show the attachment of my device to a door J, of which K is the frame or In this position the easing A is secured to the door and the bracket 1 is secured to the door frame or easement. Then the door is opened, the housing l5 is rotated in a direction to tighten the spring, and at the same time the plunger e is moved toward one end of the cylinder E, as seen in Fig. 8. When the door is released, the spring closes it, acting against the air-eushion in front of the returning plunger. Now to convert the device for application toa door swinging the other way the easing A is opened, and after detaching the link F from the housing-crank b3 the cylinder Eis lifted from its seat and reversed end for end, as seen in Fig. 1l. Then the spring-housing is removed and the spring taken out, turned around, and replaced, so that its hooks c engage the opposite edge of the cross-bar b2 of the housing. Then the housing is reversed end for end, as seen in Fig. ll, and returned to place and the link F reconnected with its crank. The-device can now be applied to a door which swings in a direction the reverse of that shown in Fig..l.

- By placing the casing A on the easement K and the bracket Ion the door the door may be made to normally stay open.

The bracket I has a double function. By the disposition of its various holes, some being farther out than others, provision is made for compensating for the various distances which the door frames or easements project over the plane of the door. Some easements protrude one inch and some more or less beyond the door. The variously-disposed holes f/ in the bracket enable connection with the lever H at such points as will compensate for this difference. Then by having the holes arranged variously sidewise of the bracket the point of attachment of the lever may be varied to suit its angle as desired, thus governing the speed and gentleness of' the door in closing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a pneumatic door check and closer of the class described, the combination of a casing, a rotary spring-housing seated in the easing and having fixed on one side a journal pivotally mounted in the easing, and having on the other side a journal fixed to thel casing and on which journal the housing` is pivotally mounted, and a spring seated in the housing, ha\f'ing one end detachably connected with the housing and the other end detachably connected with the journal which is fixed to the casing.

2. ln a pneumatic door check and closer of the class described, the combination of a casing, a rotary spring-housing seated in the easing and having fixed on one side a journal pivotally mounted in the casing and having on the other side a journal fixed to thc casing and on which journal the housing is pivotally mounted, a spring seated in the housing, having one end detachably connected with the housing and the other end detachablyconnected with the journal which is fixed to the casing, and a pawl and ratchet for adjustabl y connecting the last-named journal with the casing whereby the spring may be tensioned.

3. In a pneumatic door check and closer of the class described, the combination of a casing, a rotary spring-housing, means for mounting the housing in the casing adapting said housing to be reversed end for end, a spring controlling the movement of the housing', means for mounting the spring in the housing adapting it to be reversed, an air-cushion cylinder with plunger and rod, means for mounting said cylinder in the casing adapting it to be reversed end for end, and reversible connections between the spring-housing and the plunger-rod of the air-cushion cylinder.

4L. In a pneumatic door check and closer of the class described, the combination of a casing, a rotary spring-housing inclosed in said casing, said housing having fixed on: one side a journal pivotally fitted in the casing-wall, a journal fixed to the other wall of the casing and pivotally fitted in the other side of said housing, a spring within the housing having one end connected with the housing and the other end connected with the journal which is fixed to the casing-wall, a connection with the journal which is fixed to the housing for rotating said housing by the movement of the door, an air-cushion cylinder in the casing with a plunger and rod and a connection between IOO IIO

said housing and the plunger-rod, to operate the latter by the-rotation of the housing.

5. In a pneumatic door check and closer of the class described, the combinationof acasing, a rotary spring-housing inclosed in vsaid casing said housing having fixed on one side a journal pivotally fitted in the casing-wall, a journal detachably fixed to the other wall of the casing and pivotally iitted in the other side of said housing, a spring within the housing having one' end detachably connected with the housing and the other end detachably connected with the journal which is'iixed to the casingwall, a connection with the journal which is fiXed'to the housing for rotating said housing by the movement of the door, an aircushion cylinder mounted reversibly in'the casing said cylinder having a plunger and rod, and a reversible connection between said housing and the plunger-rod, to operate the latter `by the rotation of the housing.

6. In a pneumatic door check and closer of the class described, the combination of a casing, a rotary spring-housing inclosed in said casing, Said housing having lfixed on one side a journal pivotally iitted in the casing-wall, a journal pivotally fitted in the other side of the housing and rotatably mounted in the other wall of the casing, a ratchet on said journal and a pawl on the casing-wall to control the rotation of'said last-named journal, aV spring within the housing having one end detachably connected with the khousingvand the other end detachably connected with said ratchetcontrolled journal, a connection with the journal which is fixed to the housing forl `head with a `plurality of radial grooves engaging said lugs whereby the angle of attachment of said levermay be varied. e

9. In a pneumatic door check andcloser of the class described, the combination of a casing having within it su-itable operating parts,

a ixeol bracket, connecting power-levers between the operating parts of the casing and the fixed bracket and a variable connection between one of the levers and the bracket.

` 10. In a pneumatic door check and closer of the class described, the iixed bracket to which 'reversible air-Cushion Cylinder with as `plunthe connecting power-leverl is secured, said bracket having distributed over its surface various points of connection for thepowerlever.

l1. In a pneumatic door check and closer of the class described, consisting of a casing, a rotaryspring-housing in the casing, a fixed bracket, pivoted levers connecting the bracketY with one of thejournals of the spring-housing whereby the latter is rotated by the movement of the door, a spring carried by the housing and controlling its movement, a controllable air-cylinder, with plunger and rod,

in the casing, and a link and crank connecting the spring-housing with the plunger-rod of. the airfcylinder. v

`h In1 witness whereof I have hereunto set my oLivER Rien.

Witnesses: l WALTER F. VANE, Y D. B. RICHARDS. 

